Fuel cells are electrochemical cells in which a free energy change resulting from a fuel oxidation is converted into electrical energy. The earliest fuel cells were first constructed by William Grove in 1829 with later development efforts resuming in the late 1930's with the work of F. T. Bacon. In early experiments, hydrogen and oxygen gas were bubbled into compartments containing water that were connected by a barrier through which an aqueous electrolyte was permitted to pass. When composite graphite/platinum electrodes were submerged into each compartment and the electrodes were conductively coupled, a complete circuit was formed and redox reactions took place in the cell: hydrogen gas was oxidized to form protons at the anode (e.g., “hydrogen electrode”) and electrons were liberated to flow to the cathode (e.g., “oxygen electrode”) where they subsequently combined with oxygen.
Since that time, interest in the development of viable commercial and consumer-level fuel cell technology has been renewed. In addition to various other benefits compared with existing conventional methods, fuel cells generally promise improved power production with higher energy densities. For example, a typical hydrogen-oxygen cell operating at about 250° C. and a pressure of about 50 atmospheres yields approximately 1 volt of electric potential with the generation of water and a small quantity of thermal energy as byproducts. More recently, however, modern Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC's) operating at much lower temperatures and pressures (i.e., on the order of about 80° C. and about 1.3 atmospheres) have been observed to produce nearly the same voltage potential.
An additional advantage of fuel cells is that they generally have a higher energy density and are intrinsically more efficient than methods involving indirect energy conversion. In fact, fuel cell efficiencies have been typically measured at nearly twice those of thermo-electric conversion methods (i.e., fossil fuel combustion heat exchange).
With respect to portable power supply applications, fuel cells function under different principles as compared with standard batteries. As a standard battery operates, various chemical components of the electrodes are depleted over time. In a fuel cell, however, as long as fuel and oxidant are continuously supplied, the cell's electrode material is not consumed and therefore will not run down or require recharging or replacement.
One class of fuel cells currently under development for general consumer use are hydrogen fuel cells, wherein hydrogen-rich compounds are used to fuel the redox reaction. As chemical fuel species are oxidized at the anode, electrons are liberated to flow through the external circuit. The remaining positively-charged ions (i.e., protons) then move through the electrolyte toward the cathode where they are subsequently reduced. The free electrons combine with, for example, protons and oxygen to produce water—a environmentally clean byproduct. However, as the redox reaction proceeds in a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC), the build-up of byproduct carbon dioxide may limit the ability of the device to produce additional electrical power.
Prior art fuel cells have typically employed methods to eliminate byproduct gases that generally involve substantially direct gravity-dependent venting to the atmosphere or retention within the fuel cell itself. While these approaches may be acceptable in certain large-scale systems, the broader application of fuel cell technology, for example to portable consumer-level devices, presents previously unresolved problems with respect to the processing of byproduct gases. Accordingly, a limitation of prior art fuel cell technology concerns the effective and efficient partitioning of gases produced during the operation of a fuel cell device.